Lock-seam tube-forming machine



May 15, B923,

R. OSOSKE VVLOCK SEAM TUBE FORMING MACHINE Filad April 14, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet l I lNvENToR;

ATTORN EY WITN ESSES ay l5, w23.

R. OSOSKE Locx SEAM TUBE FonMING MACHINE Filed Avril 14, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR/ ATTORNEY WITNESSES May l5, 1923.

R. OSOSKE LOCK SEAM TUBE FORMING MACHINE FiledA April 14 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 fig- WITN ESSES INVENTCDRl ATTO R N EY May 15, 1923.

R. OSOSKE LOCK sEAM TUBE FORMING MACHINE Filed Avril 14, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 WITNESSES ATTORN EY Patented ay 15, 1923.

RUDOLPH OSOSKE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO

THE ECONOMY GAGE AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, INC., OF DETROIT, MICH- IGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

LOCK-SEAN TUBE-FORMING MACHINE.

Application led April 14, 1921.

T o all whom it may come/rn:

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH OsosKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of lifichigan, have invented new and useful I mrovements in Lock Seam Tube Forming lachines, of which the following is a spec1- fication.

This invention has reference to a lockseam tube-forming machine. and its object is to provide a machine which will form tubes of any length continuously from flat strips or ribbons of metal in lengths deterlnined only by the length of the metal stricp or ribbon from which the tubing is forme In accordance with the invention the lstrip of metal is rolled into tubular form with the longitudinal edges of the strip connected together by a lock seam located inside of the formed tube, and the tubing is ultimately carried through finishing rolls having greater peripheral speed than the shaping rolls, whereby the tube has imparted to 1t a smoother outside finish than would otherwise be obtained.

The machine is distinguished from other tube forming machines in that the action of the machine is to pull the stock through the machine instead of pushing it through, as has heretofore been proposed, the rolls serving to pull the stock through the machine functioning also as burnishing rolls, producing a smooth finish, thus accomplishing two functions in one operation.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes and modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawings: L

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a tube forming machine for producing tubing in indeterminate lengths from ribbons or flat strips of metal.

Serial No. 461,407.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is asection on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1 but drawn on a larger scale. I Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of i ig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

Figs. 7 to 14 inclusive are series of views, some in plan, some in elevation, and some in section, illustrating different steps of bending a strip or ribbon of sheet metal into a lock-seal tube, the scale being enlarged over the preceding views.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 6, there is shown a bed plate 2 of suitable shape designed to carry working parts of the machine. No attempt is made to illustrate supporting legs or other like parts, for the invention may be fully understood without reference to such parts.

Erected on the bed plate are joined pedestals 4, 5 held thereto by screws 6 or in other appropriate manner. rlhe pedestals 4, 5 are arranged in pairs and spaced crosswise of the direction of travel through the machine and the pairsare held in line on the bed plate by grooves 4a in the under face of the joined pedestals entered by a tongue 5a on the bed plate.

One of the pairs of pedestals 4, 5 has journal bearings for a shaft 7 extending transversely of the mach-ine and carryingV a pulley 8 for the application of power from any suitable source. The shaft 7 has a journal bearing 9 in the pedestal 4 near the lower end thereof and another journal bearing 10 in the pedestal 5 near the lower end thereof, and beyond the pedestal 5 the shaft 7has the journal bearing 11 in a post 12, which latter is made fast to the under face of the bed plate 2.

Fixed to the shaft 7 near the pedestal 5 is a gear wheel 13, meshing with another gear wheel 14 on the counter-shaft 15 having journal bearings 16, 17 in the respective pedestals 4 and 5. The bearing 17 has centering trunnion screws 18 for adjusting and pivoting it, and thesescrews are provided withl screw-driver slots 19 and lock nuts 20, whereby a delicate adjustment may be obtained and the adjustment made certain by the nuts 20. Each gear wheel 13 is made fast to the shaft 7, or to a counter-shaft 21, by a through pin 22 or in other appropriate manner, while the gear 14 is made fast to the counter shaft 15 by a similar pin 23 or in any other appropriate manner.

The bearings 9 and 10 are fixed in the respective pedestals 4 and 5 without adjustment, while the bearing` block 17 is made adinstablel by the screws 18 andthe bearing 16 is made adjustable by a hand screw 24 provided with a crank 25 for its manipulation and threaded through a top web or plate 26 on the pedestal 4 and which may be continued to the top of the pedestal 5. the plate 26 being made .fast to both pedestals by screws 27 o-r in any other' appropriate inanner. The bearing block 16 is sustained by a pin 28 seated in the upper end of the pedestal 4 beneath the block 16 and sustained by a coiled spring 29 of sufficient strength to lift the block 16 and parts carried thereby when the screw 24 is loosened. The adjustments pro-vided permit the rolling of tubes within very close limits.

The shaft 7 beyond the bearing block 9 has a head 30 made fast thereto and the counter-shaft 15 beyond the block 16 has a similar head 31 made fast thereto. There are also other counter-shafts 32, 33 and 34 similar to the counter-shaft 21 and to the main drive shaft 7. These counter-shafts carry sprocket Wheels 35 connected by sprocket chains 36 so that all the shafts with the sprocket wheels thereon receive motion from the main shaft 7 and belt pulley 8, all the shafts driven by the sprocket chains rotating in the same direction.

Beside the upper counter-shaft 15. there are other upper counter-shafts 37 and below these counter-shafts and corresponding to the higher counter-shafts is the main shaft 7 and other countershafts 21 and 32, 33 and 34 whereby the higher counter-shafts receive motion in one direction and the main shaft and the lower counter-shafts receive motion in the other direction.

At the end of the machine remote from thcI pulley 8, the counter-shaft 34 and the counter-shaft 37 above it carry rolls 38, 39 in matching relation. The next countershafts inl order toward the shaft 7 carry rolls 40, 4l. with the following countershafts carrying rolls 42, 43 respectively. Following these last named rolls is a pair of rolls 44, 45 respectively. whilev the shafts 7 and 15 carry rolls 46 and 47. All the rolls receive motion from the respective shafts by means of pins 48. each seated at one end in a head 30 or 31 and at the other end in a socket 49 in the appropriate one of the rolls.

The several rolls'are held to the shafts carrying them by nuts 5() and interposed washers 51 and the heads 30 and 31 'are keyed to the shafts carrying them by pins 52 or in any other appropriate manner.

At the entering end of the machine in the line of travel of the tube beingy formed is a. guide 53 shown separately in Fig. 7 on a larger scale and through this guide there is fed a flat strip or ribbon 54 of metal constit-uting the stock from which the tube is to be formed. The guide 53 is provided With guide bloc-ks 55 in which are seated rods 56 each with. a screw-driver slot 57, permitting the rod to be turned, but as the rod is not screw-threaded., it does not advance, the purpose of the rods being to provide edge bearing for the strip 54 as it enters the ma- ,chine, and to permit the taking up of any wear which may occur by the simple expedient of turning the rods on their longitudinal axes topresent new surfaces to the edges of the strip, the fit of the rods being such as to hold them in adjusted positions. In the p-articular structure shown, the strip 54 is fed into the guide 53 by hand but this does not preclude the utilization of mechanism for the purpose.

After leaving the guide 53, the strip enters between the positively driven rolls 38 and 39, which are peripherally shaped as shown in Fig. 8 to bend the strip 54 transversely into a transverse compound curve with opposite angular flanges 58,'59. The stripthen passes through a guide 60 and to the rolls 40, 41 where the strip 54 is bent upon itself, as shown in Fig. 9 and with the flanges 58, 59 directed toward the same side of the laterally bent strip. The roll 41 has a peripheral tongue 61 entering the eripheral groove 62 in the roll 40. One si e of the groove 62 is cut away to a greater extent than the other side to accommodate the flange 58 as shown in Fig. 9. On leaving the rolls 40, 41, the strip 54 enters a guide 63' and passes therefrom to the rolls 42, 43, the roll. 42 having a peripheral groove 64 cut away at one side 65 like the groove 62 of the roll 40. The roll 42 is provided with a peripheral shoulder 66 engagingl the roll 43 so as to hold the remainder of the rolls apart to provide a space 67 accommodating the flange 59 of the metal strip 54 being bent into shape. The roll 43' has a peripheral tongue 68, as shown Vin Fig. 10 narrower than the tongue 61 of the roll 41 and the peripheral groove 65 of the roll 42 is narrower than the groove 62 in the roll 40. By this means the strip 54 is bent to a greater extent to bring the fia-nge edges of the strip 54 more nearly together than is accomplished by the rolls 40 and 41. f

The strip 54 on leaving the rolls 42 and 43 is presented to idler' rollers 69, 70 carried by a block 71 between which rollersthe strip 54, now approaching tubular form, is fed by the rolls 42 and 43. The ,idler rollers 69 and 70 are sufficiently close together and suit? ably shaped on their perip eries to bring the flanges 58 and 59 into overlapping relation, as shown in Fig. 11, but before the tube being formed reaches the rollers 69 and 70, it is moved onto a mandrel 72 provided with a carrying block 73 to which the mandrel is secured by a set screw 74 shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

After the tube being formed leaves the rollers 69 and 70. it passes into a funnel 7 5 carried by a block 76 and this funnel has its continuity broken to admit the flanges 58 and 59 with the flange 58 receiving and bent over the flange 59 as shown in Fig. 12, this being accomplished by a grooved roller 77 carried by a slide 78 mounted on the post 79 and controlled by an adjustment screw 80, In order to support the tube into which the strip 54 has been formed, the mandrel 72 is prolonged. Beyond the seam-turning guide wheel 77 4and funnel 75, there is another block 81 carrying idler rollers 82, 83 through which the mandrel 72 extends and so proportioned as to flatten the flanges 58 and 59 against each other with the flange 58 receiving and locking the flange 59 as shown in Fig. 13,

-' The tube with the flanges 58 and 59 inter locked and mounted on the mandrel 72, along which the tube slides, now passes be` tween the rolls 44 and 45 and from thence to the rolls 46 and 47. The mandrel, which continues between and past the rolls 46 and 47, has a longitudinal groove 84 lengthwise of the mandrel to receive t-he interlocked flanges 58 and 59 in the form of a lock seam 85 permitting the tube formed as described to present a smooth, cylindrical outer surface with the lock seam interior to the periphery of the tube.

The rolls 44 to 47 are of larger diameter than the other rolls and being power driven the same as the other rolls serve as finishing or burnishing rolls, whereby the tube is given a polished surface for the travel of To remedy the tube is constant, despite the higher peripheral speed of'the finishing rolls. Both pairs of finishing rolls may be shaped as shown in Fig. 3 with matching grooves 86 to pass the completed tube and having interlocking ribs 87 so as to grasp the finished tube throughout;J its circumference, the ribs 87 on one of the rolls embracing the ribs 87 on th other roll.

ln forming ,the tube, the metal is put under more or less stress and hence tends to cause a twist in the finished tube, so that on leaving the last pair ofv rolls the tube more or less distorted fiom a straight line. this, there is provided a straightener 88 located at the discharge end of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and shown separately in Figs. 5 and 6. The straightener comprises a frame 89 withan opening 90 therethrough in which is lodged a block 91 mounted upon adjusting screws 92, engaging the block 'on opposite sides, so as to provide for centering the block, which carries an entering funnel 93 through which the formed tube is fed after leaving the mandrel 72. The straightener is carried by a bracket 94 fast to an adjacent part of the framework of the machine.

rI he stock from which the tubes are formed 1s' 1n the shape of a flat ribbon of suitable widthand of any appropriate length. The ribbon, as before stated, is fed by hand into the guide 53 and may be appropriately annealed for the treatment to which it is subjected. The various pairs of rollers serve as pulling rolls augmented by the pull of the finishing rolls which also function as smoothing or burnishing rolls.

The guides 60 and 63 aid in shaping thc metal strip 54 as it progresses between the shaping power rolls, while the pairs of rollers 69 and 70 and 82 and 83 serve as closing rollers to form the interlocking seam, which is afterward pressed down to the inside of the formed tube by the finishing rolls 44 to 47. Finally, twisting of the tube, due to the bending and distortion of the metal strip 54 in its passage through the machine, is corrected by the straightener 88.

The finished tube may be allowed to pass upon a table or trough or even upon the floor and is cut to desirable lengths in any suitable manner, as by a pair of snips in the hands of a workman.

1. A lock-seam tube-forming machine, comprising a series of pairs of rolls for drawing a flat strip of metal through the rolls, drawing idlers between the rolls for progressively locking the edges of the strip into a lock seam, a mandrel with a longitudinal groove therein over which the formed tube is drawn, and other pairs of rolls having greater peripheral speed than the first named pairs of rolls for pulling the tube over the mandrel with the last named pairs of rolls depressing the lock seam into the groove for finishing the tube with a cylindrical outer surface, the machine also being provided with tube straightening means located to receive the tube after leaving the last pair of rolls.

2. A lock-seam tube-forming machine, comprising a guide for receiving a flat strip of metal to be formed into a tube, a pair of rolls for imparting to the margins of the strip flanges from which to produce the lock seam, other pairs of rolls for bending the flanged strip laterally toward tubular form, all the rolls being positively driven, guides intermediate of the rolls for directing the fianged edges of the strip into locking engagement, idler rolls for. folding the fianged edges into interlocking engagement,

a longitudinally grooved mandrel for sustaining the tube after the flangesare locked, and other pairsof positively driven rolls for depressing the interlocked fianges into the longitudinal groove in the mandrel and having imparted thereto a greater peripheral speed than the first named rolls whereby'to produce a surface finish to the tube With the lock seam depressed into the groove in the mandrel, and the. surface of the tube of cylindrical conformation.

3. In a lock-seam tube-forming machine for forming the tube of continuous flat strips of metal, an entering guide having a passage for the fiat strip with edge bearings in the form of adjustable rods whereby compensation may be had 'for Wear of the edges of the strip upon the rods, and means for bending and forming said strip into a fin- A ished tube.

4. In a tube forming machine, a series of rolls adapted to bend a strlp of sheet metal into finished t-ubular form, and means for guiding said strips into the first rolls of the series, said means having adjustable guide surfaces adapted to be moved to present new surfaces'to the Wearin action of the strips.

5. A lock-seam 'tu e-forming machine, comprising progressive series of shaping rolls with progressively shaped guides, the rolls acting upon an initially flat strip to pull it progressively through the machine with the guides acting passively upon the strip in the progressive formation thereof, idle rolls adapted to bend the edges of the tube blank into interlocking relation and` succeeding pulling rolls of greater diameter than the first named rolls having a greater peripheral speed than said shaping rolls wherebythey finish `the tube by a burnishing t,

action.

6. A tube-forminoP machine comprising a series of positively driven tube formingrolls with intermediate guides participating in the formation of the tube, and a straightener comprising a tubular member having flared tube guiding means, and adjustable means for supporting said straightener in alinement with the tube being formed whereby to counteract distortions imparted to the tube durinIg the forming operation.

7. n tube making-machines for forming fiat strips into tubes, a series of opposed pairs of fiange forming and plate bending rolls having stationary guiding and bending means arranged adjacent each pair, means for interlocking the flanges thus formed, a series of relatively large tube finishin rolls adapted to pressthe interlocked ganges by burnishing action to form a smooth eXterlor surface, and means for preventing the tube from crushing or collapsing during the finishing operation.

8. In a lock seam tube forming machine, in combination, a series of pairs of flange forming and plate bending rolls, a guide for the tube blank adjacent each pair of rolls, a

plurality of idle rolls constructed and arranged to bend the fianges into interlocking relation, a series of tube finishing and burnishing rolls adapted to press the exterior surface of the tube into a smooth cylinder, and means for preventing distortions in the finished tube.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afiixed my signature.

RUDOLPH ososKE. 

